SWEET LU COMES THROUGH
OCTOBER 15, 2007 – The Lucinda interview is in
the can. After a couple years of trying to coordinate
schedules with Lucinda Williams, the planets aligned
and we finally caught up with her in Austin last month
while she was in town for the Austin City Limits Festival
and TV Show. Lu was so sweet and gracious to sit down
for the interview after taping ACL on September 18.
It was like old home week with lots of memories. Lucinda’s
thoughts and comments about the old days at the Fair
represent the final piece of the puzzle. Thanks Lu.
Bless your sweet heart.
We want to send a big “gracias por todo” to
the folks at KLRU-TV and the crew of Austin City Limits
for their hospitality and in-kind contribution of crew
and equipment while we were in Austin. Special thanks
to General Manager Bill Stotesbery for setting the
wheels in motion; producer, Jeff Peterson for handling
the details and to technical director, Ed Fuentes for
his help setting up our interview with Lucinda. Extra
special thanks to ACL director Gary Menotti for inviting
us to watch the taping of Austin City Limits from the
control room. You are the maestro, Gary.
ROGER THAT
OCTOBER 1, 2007 – The offline edit is well underway.
We anticipate having the first, rough assembly of THE
MOVIE shortly—that’s the long version without
the supporting visuals like still photos and archival
film. So there’s still major work to be done,
not the least of which is raising the funds to cover
the HARD costs of finishing the film. It costs mucho
moolah to purchase stock footage, mix the sound, color
correct the pictures to make them even prettier and
to up-rez this puppy to glorious high definition. Then
there’s the lawyers, too…they really are
good folks, but they ain’t cheap.
Won the lottery? Know anybody who loves folk music?
Know anybody who loves Houston? Want to be a part of
something really special, guaranteed? Please do whatever
you can to help us finish this film. No donation is
too small or too large. Tell your friends about us.
We also owe a HUGE thank you
and want to give credit to Jerry W. Walsh. Jerry
took a lot of great still photos “back in the day” and has offered
them to us for the film. Jerry shot the photo of Roger
Ruffcorn seen here. He also shot the pictures of Lyse,
Francie and Lilly the chimp on the “ABOUT GHOST
RANCH FILMS” page and the photo of Francie, Roger,
Stephen and Lyse on the “SUPPORT” page
of this website. Thanks, Jerry. UDAMAN!
In the near future, we’re going to need a few
warm bodied volunteers to help with research, office
stuff and other stuff we haven’t thought up yet
but know we’re going to need. Drop us an email
at mail@anderesonfairthemovie.com and let us know how
you’d like to help.
COMING SOON
JUNE 1, 2007 - The reason you haven't heard form us
lately is we've been locked up in a small room in
the Houston Heights honing down 120 hours of material
into something a bit more manageable for our editor.
Now, with seven hours of choice stuff ready to go,
the real editing is about to begin. We hope to have
our first "rough cut" by the fall. That's
this year.
FOLK ANGELS
MAY 1, 2007 - We wouldn't be able to move forward if
it weren't for the Angels who've appeared recently.
We want to thank from the bottom of our hearts longtime
Anderson Fair family member and patron, Elizabeth
Phillips, for her extremely generous support. Elizabeth's
gift will get this movie edited. How big is that?
But we're not finished yet and we still need to raise
funds to cover the hard cost of finishing this film...color
correction, high def conforming, sound mixing, etc.
We also want to thank the Berman Family Foundation
and Molly Gochman for their generous support.
POETRY,
TEXAS (Thanks Vince & Ray
Wylie)
April 19, 2007 - We're pleased as punch, make that
a Shiner Premium, that Steve Fromholz has been named
poet laureate of Texas for 2007 by Governor Rick
Perry. Far as we're concerned, there's not a more
deserving artist in this state. Fromholz says he'll
be dressing all in black and wearing a beret at all
his gigs for the next year. Eric and Denice will
like that. When asked if he enjoys poetry, Steven
said, "I like chicken, turkey, duck, pea hens,
guinea fowl - I love poultry, always have." We've
been telling everybody this stuff is poetry. Oh,
that's right, you haven't seen the movie yet. Stay
tuned.
FOLK
LORE (by Eileen McClelland, Houston Chronicle)
New
documentary to capture the unlikely history of Houston's
venerable Anderson Fair
Tim Leatherwood likes to say that Anderson Fair Retail
Restaurant has been out of business for 37 years. The
live-music venue closes in the summer, is staffed with
volunteers and has never made a profit worth mentioning.
And Leatherwood, Anderson Fair's current owner, has
been known to refund customers' money and show them
the door if they make too much noise. (read more: just
click on this
link )
MUNDOTISH
March 26, 2007 - From the White House to el barrio,
Tish Hinojosa has enchanted, enlightened and entertained
countless listeners with her distinctive cross-cultural
music. In the process, she has become one of the
most acclaimed and beloved artists in the contemporary
Latin and folk scene. Tish is a regular at the Fair
and For The Sake Of The Song wouldn't be complete
without her. We had the extreme pleasure of interviewing
Tish for the film and recording her show when she
was here on March 24. Thanks, Tish. We love you.
HISTORY CENTER PLEDGES SUPPORT
February 1, 2007 - Our good friend and champion, Dr.
Don Carleton, Director of The Center for American
History at U.T. Austin, has pledged the official
support of the center. Don has been behind the project
from the very beginning but is now ready to put the
weight of the CAH behind us. Don's Associate Director,
Ramona Kelly, has also been extremely generous sharing
her advice and expertise as a successful documentary
producer. Gracias por todo, Don and Ramona.
UPANDCOMERS SHOT AT THE FAIR
September 28, 2006 - Or should we say filmed? Don't
worry nobody got hurt. But we did get some great
stuff during a recent Songwriters Night presented
by Ken Gaines with Wayne Wilkerson. Ken welcomed
Matt Harlan and Greg Klyma to the Fair for a great
evening of great songs from these new kids on the
block. These guys are good.
FUNDING
CONTINUES AS EDIT BEGINS
July 25, 2006 – With the Nanci Griffith and
Bill Staines shows in the can, we’re entering
the early stages of post-production with over 100 hours
of new material and over 20 hours of archival footage.
But there’s still a little more shooting to do
and months of editing ahead…and the kitty’s
runnin’ thin. We’re still seeking support
on all levels, from modest individual gifts to major
corporate and private foundation funding. Thanks
to everyone who has supported the film so far.
LIFTED UP BY ANGELS
July 1, 2006 – Nanci Griffith returned to Anderson
Fair on June 16 & 17 to perform two very special
fund-raising concerts for the film. Both sold-out shows
were absolutely magical and a resounding success. Denice
Franke opened for Nanci on both nights and sang backup
vocals during Nanci’s sets. Clive Gregson accompanied
on guitar. Thank you, Nanci, Denice and crew for your
gift of and time and music.
Nanci also visited with friends
and supporters of the film for a screening of the
work-in-progress at the Rice Media Center on June
15. Special thanks to Austin artist, Bill Narum,
for creating a great poster for the concerts and
to everyone who came out to see Nanci and support
the film. Very special thanks to Bob, Bob, Bobby,
Franci, Gail, Lyse, Joy, Mary, Michelle, Mitzi, Tim
and all of the other volunteers who made it all happen.
THE NEW HIP
June 15, 2006 – We visited with Bill Staines
and filmed his show at The Fair in early June. Bill
has been one of the mainstays of Anderson Fair for
over thirty years. Bill was actually one of the first “national” artists
to play the current music room after the “hole-in-the-wall” expansion
in the early ‘70s. By now Bill should be resting
comfortably back east with a new hip. All young players
take note, Fromholz was right. When asked for advice
by a young guitar player at Kerrville, Steve said, “Change
legs.”
HILL COUNTRY HOLIDAY
June 5, 2006 – We traveled to Kerrville on Memorial
Day to catch up with Guy Clark, Ramblin’ Jack
Elliot, Robert Earl Keen and The Texas Flatliners (Vince
Bell, Steve Fromholz and Eric Taylor). We spent the
next day shooting interviews at the YO Ranch before
jumping over to Austin for more interviews with historians
Don Carleton and Michael Scully, Texas music writer
Joe Nick Patoski, artist Bill Narum and veteran Texas
guitar player, Mickey White.
Stay tuned. Gracias por todo.
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